Have you ever felt caught between the tension of a day job and a dream job? That gap between what you have to do and what you’d love to do?

I have.
 
At first I thought I was the only one who felt that way, but then I started to talk to people and realized we’re becoming the “I’m, but” generation. When we talk about what we do for a living we inevitably say, “I’m a teacher, but I want to be an artist.” “I’m a CPA, but I’d love to start my own business.”
 
“I’m a _____, but I want to be a ______.”
 
All too often, we hear that dreaming big means you quit your day job, sell everything you own, and move to Guam. But what if there were a different way?
 
What if you could blow up your dream without blowing up your life?
 
What if you could go for broke without going broke?
 
What if you could start today?
 
What if you already have everything you need to begin?
 
From figuring out what your dream is to quitting in a way that exponentially increases your chance of success, Quitter is full of inspiring stories and actionable advice. This book is based on 12 years of cubicle living and my true story of cultivating a dream job that changed my life and the world in the process.
 
It’s time to close the gap between your day job and your dream job.
 
It’s time to be a Quitter.
  • CHAPTER 1
    Don't Quit Your Day Job
  • CHAPTER 2
    Removing The "I'm" From Your "But"
  • CHAPTER 3
    What Lies Between a Day Job and a Dream Job
  • CHAPTER 4
    Falling In Like With A Job You Don't Love
  • CHAPTER 5
    Wait on the Main Stage
  • CHAPTER 6
    There Will Be Hustle
  • CHAPTER 7
    Learn to Be Successful at Success
  • CHAPTER 8
    Quit Your Day Job
  • EPILOGUE
    The Three Reasons You'll Ignore Everything You Just Read

Don't Quit Your Day Job

The first chapter of Jon Acuff's new book Quitter.

The trick to removing your clothes in a bathroom stall is to start with your shirt. A lot of people will tell you to remove the pants first, but they’re wrong. If you go with the shirt, the person in the stall next to you has time to leave the bathroom on his own terms. If you go with the pants first, the pile falling to the ground assaults him. Falling pants one foot from your feet is traumatic at eight in the morning.

Everyone knows to test the door lock before removing any clothing, but lots of people forget the drop test on the door hook. As in, “If I hang my bag and shirt on this, will it drop them to the floor, forcing me to light them on fire in my backyard?” The hook is your best friend because it’s nearly impossible to balance something on the metal box that holds the toilet paper.

And let’s not even talk about balancing your stuff on the back of the toilet. Asking a toilet to hold your shirt is expecting that piece of porcelain to perform a feat for which it was not designed. The shirt is going to slide off and wedge itself between the toilet and wall. That shirt is gone, and this isn’t the Marines. You will leave a man behind. Always choose a stall by the hook strength it offers.

It took me awhile to glean these nuggets of bathroom wisdom. I had to learn by trial and error. You? You’ve already benefited from my mistakes. Those insights alone are worth the price of this book. But I’m sure you wonder why I have so much experience with stripping in a handicapped stall.

I was doing the reverse Superman.

For a few years I flew all over the country, speaking at weekend conferences. Saving lives, really. Then I would fly home through the night, ride the MARTA train to my office parking lot in Atlanta, grab a pair of khakis from my car, and head to the handicapped stall. No one suspected anything. I would then walk upstairs and disappear into a sea of cubicles, like Clark Kent at the Daily Planet.

I hated that.

I hated doing something I loved outside of work, feeling alive and engaged, only to have it all disappear the moment I walked through the door of my day job. I didn’t hate the work per se. I liked my boss and the people I worked with. It wasn’t that. I just hated that forty hours of my week didn't feel anything like the few hours of my weekend when life made sense.

I hated that my dreams had to go into hibernation every Monday morning. And so, like many other times in my life, I kept coming back to the same thought.

It's quitting time.

Read the entire first chapter.